Pile driver



Sept 27, 1932. G, SALMON I ,879,993

FILE DRIVER Filed Oct. 50. 19:51

,Jmerdn'u REGINALD GEORGE SALMON,

M q-MJ Mime/I Patented Sept. 27, 1932 Darren stares earner oratorREGINALD GEORGE SALMON, OF BARKINGSIDE, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOTEE BRITISH STEEL FILING COMPANY, LIMITED, OF LONDONQENGLAND, .A. CORPORAT-ION OF GREAT BEITAEH AND NORTHERN IRELAIQ'D FILE DRIVER Applicationfiled October 30, 1931, Serial No. 571,992, and in Great BritainDecember 16, 1930.

This invention relates to pile drivers and more particularly to driversfor steel plate piling.

Heretofore, the driving of steel plate piles has necessitated thedriving hammer which weighs, for example, three tons, being laid uponits side whilst a pile is secured to an attachment of the hammer in sucha manner that thepile is held in a definite position relatively to thehammer. The hammer and pile are thereafter raised and swung intoposition for driving the pile. The piles are often sixty feet in heightand the operation described takes a relatively long period of time sothat the number of piles which it is possible to drive in one hour isrelatively small and rarely exceeds four in number.

The improved pile driver according to this invention comprises a drivinghammer, or an adaptor arranged to be carried by a hammer, having abifurcated lower end, and suspension means arranged to connect a pile tothe hammer or adaptor in such a manner that as the pile is raised from asubstantially horizontal position, the upper end thereof swingsautomatically into position within the bifurcation so that the pileassumes a substantially definite upright position relatively to thehammer.

A constructional example of the improved pile driver is illustrated asto the relevant parts in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is afront elevation of the improved pile driver in lowered position forraising one end of a pile to be driven, showing also in dotted lines thesuccessive positions relatively to the hammer into which the pile comesas the hammer is raised; 7

Fig. 2 is a side view at right angles to Fig. 1, the pile to be raisedand driven being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a partly sectional plan on the line HIHI of Fig. 2 showingalso in dotted lines a pile in position to be driven and interlocked onone side with a pile already driven and on the other side with a standing pile about to be driven.

Referring to the drawing, in the construction illustrated an adaptor isused with the pile driving hammer and is connected with the hammer asfollows.

The framework of the adaptor is formed by four straight verticallydisposed channel steel members 1, 2, 3, 4 which are bolted around thehammer casing. The upper end of the hammer casing terminates in the top7 casing by the bolts 16 and 17 respectively (Fig. 1).

A bifurcated jaw member formed ofsteel plate and channel members issecured to the lower ends of steel channels 14 which extend below thecontact face of the anvil 11;

This bifurcated member is formed of upwardly extending channel portions18 and 19, of which the member 18 isse'cured on one side to the steelchannel 1 by upperand lower stiffening plates 20 and 21 and on the otherside to steel channel 2 by similar stiffening plates of which the upperone only is seen at 22 in Fig. 3, while the member 19 is secured on oneside to the steel channel 3 by upper and lower stifi'ening'plates 23 and24; and on the other side to steel channel l by similar stiffeningplates of which the upper one only is-seen at 25. V i

A part of the lower stiffeningplate 24 is cut away as shown in Fig. 1and the correspondj ing lower stifl'ening plate (which does not appearin the drawing) connectingthe channel member 19 to the vertical steelchannel 4 is also cut away in a similar manner, so that sides 28, 29disposed at right angles to the face of the anvil 11, and when theadaptor is secured in position upon a driving hammer y we the strikingface of the anvil 11 is located just clear, for example, by about oneinch,of the upper open end 30 between the parallel portions 28, 29 ofthe bifurcation. The hammer 1' and adaptor are permitted to moverelatively Transversely disposed members 31, 32 are secured upon.opposlte sides of the frame to the ends of chains 35 and 36 respectivelyto be connected to the'said members 31 and 32. The other ends of thechains 35, 36 are connected by loops such as indicated at 37 to aclamporclip 38 whichis firmly bolted to the pile 39 so that the chains formthe suspension means between the adaptor and the 41 of theclamp 38 areplaced in position upon opposite sides of the pile 39 and firmly securedthereto by means of bolts 42 arranged to extend through the two clampmembers l0 and 41. The upper bar 40 is provided-with eyes upon; its twoends whereby the aforesaid chains 35 and 36' may be secured to theclamp, for instance by loops suchas shown at 37.

The position of the clamp 38 relatively to the upper end of the pile 39to be driven is determined according to the length of the pile and so asto ensure that the upper end of the pile will swing automatically intothe bird "zmouth 27 of the bifurcated jaw member when the adaptor andpile connected thereto are lifted with the striking hammer in a mannerwhich willnow be. described.

Theoperation of the pile driver is as follows " ithe like by means ofthe lifting eye 6 so that the bifurcated end thereof is disposedadjacent tothat end of thepile which is to be driven, for instance theright hand end as shown in Fig. 1. The adaptor is connected to the clamp38 by means of the chains 35, 36

and the hammer and adaptor are then raised" to lift the pile 39 clear ofthe ground, whereupon the upper end swings into the birdmouth 27 of thebifurcation "so as to clear the inclined face 26 and becomes locatedwithweight of the in the space between the two parallel faces 28, 29 ofthe bifurcation. The hammer and adaptor together with the pile are thenswung into the desired position andthe complete assembly lowered. Assoonas the weight of the pile is taken by the material into which it isto be drivenand/or by its locking en gagement with the preceding pile,the hammer and adaptor move downwardly relatively to the pilewhich thenextends into the space between the'vertical parallelfaces 28 'and 29 ofthe bifurcation until the upper end structure of the adaptor and holesare pro- 'vided in the said members to enable hooks or loops such asshown at 33 and 34 secured of the pile contacts with the striking faceof the anvil 11. Further downward movement of the pile is then effectedby virtue of the hammer and when this downward movement ceases the usualstriking operations of the hammer are commenced to drive the pile.During this operation 'the parallel faces 28, 29 of the bifurcation arereciprocated relatively to the upper end of the pile. g

If the upper end of the pile is located at a comparatively great heightfrom the ground during the initial part of the driving operation, theremoval of'the clamp 38 and chains 35, 36 may be effected after the pilehas been driven a certain amount so as to bring the clamp into aconvenient position for removal.

It will be appreciated that when the pile is swung into position so thatthe upper end thereof is located in the bird-mouth portion 27 of thebifurcation, the distance between the upper end of the pile and thestriking face of the anvil 11 provides sufficient slack in theconnecting chains to allow for the striking operations of the hammer tobe effected.

It will be observed from the foregoing deerations commenced, with aminimum expenditure of time and labour. In actual practice it is foundpossible to drive a relatively much greater number of piles in an hourthan heretofore.

When the adaptor above described is employed for driving steel piles ofa corrugated or other angular or curved cross-sectional configuration,the various members forming the bifurcation are shaped to correspondtherewith or to clear the edges of the pile.

Further, when driving hammers of the usual type are employed in which ananvil block is located upon the bottom face of the hammer and isconfined between four legs located at Levaeea upper ends of the nextadjacent pile or piles which have already been driven.

Instead of the adaptor described above a hammer may be constructedaccording to the invention with a bird-mouth bifurcation formedintegrally therewith or with the anvil block thereof.

Further, it is to be understood that modifications in the form of thebifurcation may be made to accommodate various piling sections which itis desired to drive.

It is also to be understoodthat the above described suspension means forconnecting a pile to be driven to the hammer or adaptor may be variouslymodified, for example, links and lost motion devices may be provided inlieu of the chains, the lost motion devices enabling the strokes of thehammer relatively to the pile to be effected. The construction of theclamp 38 may also be modified and may comprise any automatically actingtype of gripping device.

hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Pile drivingapparatus'for steel plate piling, comprising a driving member, means forsuspending, lowering, and raising the driving member, an anvil face onthe driving member, two jaw members projecting beyond and at rightangles to the anvil face and form ing a recess between them, and aconnection between the pile to be driven and the driving member enablingthe operation of raising the driving member from its lowered position tosimultaneously move the pile from a recumbent positon on the ground intoan upright position with the driven end inserted in the recess betweensaid jaw members ready to be driven. I

2. Pile driving apparatus for steel plate piling, comprising a drivingmember, a bifurcated lower end of the driving member, means forsuspending the driving member, lowering it from and raising it to itsoperative position, and means for attaching a pile while in asubstantially horizontal position on the ground to the driving member inits lowered position such that the operation of raising the drivingmember from said position into driving position simultaneously raisesthe pile and causes the driven end of the same automatically to enterthe bifurcation at the lower end of the driving member in position forthe driving operation.

3. Pile driving apparatus for steel plate piling, comprising a drivingmember, a bifurcated lower end of-the driving member, means forsuspending the driving member, lowering it from and raising it to itsoperative position, and a connection between the driving member and apile lying on the ground such that the movement of the driving memberfrom its lowered to its operative position moves the driven end of thepile into the bifurcation at the lower end of the driving memberandallows'the pile automatically toswing into position to be driven. 54.Pile driving apparatus for steel plate piling, comprising a drivinghamn1'er,.and an adaptor constructed around the driving hammercasing,'the adaptor consisting of interconnected angle steel memloershaving ends extending beyond the anvil of the hammer, andstifl'eningplates connected to the extended ends of the angle .steelmembers arranged to form betweenthem a comparativelyvnarrowpassagehaving parallel sides di hammer, a stiffening structure connectedbetween the extended ends of two adjacent cornermembers of thesaidrectangular frame, andanother stiffening structure connectedbetweenthe extended ends of the other two adjacent corner members of thesaid rectangular frame, the two stiffening structures forming betweenthem a comparatively narrow passage having parallel sides direct edatright angles to the face of the anvil of the hammer and adapted toreceive be tween them the driving end of a pile.

6. Pile driving apparatus for steel plate piling, comprising a drivinghammer and an adaptor constructed around the driving hammer casing, theadaptor consisting of four interconnected angle steel members formingthe parallel corners of an elongated rectangular frame extending beyondthe an vil of the hammer, a stiffening structure connected between theextended ends of two adj acent corner members of the said rectangularframe, and another stiffening structure connected between the extendedends of the other two adjacent corner members of the said rectangularframe, the two stiffening structures forming jaw members of abifurcation adapted to engage the driving end of a pile, and the outerend of one jaw member being inclined away from the other aw member.

7. The method of bringing a sheet metal pile from a recumbent positionon the ground into and retaining said pile in driving position relativeto a pile driver, which consists in lowering the pile driver by theusual means (such as a crane) to a position approximately vertical overthe end of the recumbent .pile to be driven, attaching the pile driverwhile suspended vertically in said position to the recumbent pile bymeans (such as slings) connecting points on opposite sides of-the piledriver at a predetermined distance above the anvil face of thelatter topoints on opposite edges of the pile at a predeter mined distance fromthedriving end thereof, and Vertically raising the :pile driver andattached pile to allow the driving end of the pile to swingautomatically into a prepared bifurcation provided on the lower end ofthe pile driver so as to dispense with the necessity for laying thedriving hammer on its 7 side while securingthe pile to an attachment ofthe hammer.

r 8. A method of bringing a sheet metal pile from a recumbent positionon the ground into and retaining said pile in driving position relativeto a pile driver, whch consists in lowering the pile driver to aposition over oneend of the recumbent pile, attaching the pile driverwhile suspended to one end of the recumbentpile by means connectingpoints on opposite sides of the pile driver at a predetermined distanceabove the anvil faceof the latter to points on opposite edges of thepile at a predetermined distance from the driving end thereof, andvertically raising the pile driver and attached pile to allow thedriving end of the pile to swing automatically into a preparedbifurcation provided on the lower end of the pile driver so as todispense with the necessity for laying the driving hammer on its endwhile securing the pile to an attachment of the hammer."

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature. REGINALD GEORGE SALMON.

